When nanoelectronics will supersede microelectronics?
Today in the world nobody can say when all the electronic appliances will be nanoelectronics devices and silicium-based field transistor will stop playing a key role on the world electronic market. But when it happens, a quantum leap will occur in electronics and we will be able to say that modern electronics is based on nanoelectronic objects.
What restricts nanoelectronics development today, which problems does it face with?
Presence of traditional electronics, which filled practically the whole world, to some extend restricts introduction of nanoelectronics into daily life. Therefore, an immediate transition from classical electronics devices to nanoelectronics ones can’t take place. Market is occupied. Nevertheless, nanoelectronics “streams” meet modern market appliances. For instance, all the mobile phones contain at least several nanoheterostructure en block integral schemes, which are made on the basis of transistors with high electrons mobility. They fall into a category of nanoelectronics devices. The same situation is obsereved with laser pointers, which are even popular among children — pointers have a laser, which is also a device of nanoheterostructure electronics.
How well do we aware of silicium electronics future?
There is an international document — International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS), which justifies market economy development in the field of semiconductors electronics until 2020. Everything is described there for every year, the future of silicium field transistors are completely delineated. In ITRS there is even a separate paragraph devoted to the future of gallium arsenide.
Today silicium niche on the market is about 300 billion dollars. 10 million dollars stand for gallium arsenide. They are two absolutely different in terms of scale niches. The other thing is that one of the silicium microelectronics development tendencies resides in the fact that in future channels of silicium-based field transistors will be more likely produced from gallium and germanium arsenide. Only channels, all the rest will remain silicium one. That is why if we are talking about assistance of gallium arsenide to silicium in future, it will take place via silicium and gallium arsenide hybrid in one transistor, one chip, and even on one board.
Transition from micro — to nano scale: what had an influence on it?
Today this transition is mainly connected with the transition to heterostructure devices. If we take nanoheterostructure electronics, the first step forward (and it is accepted by the whole world) was made by Zores Alferov, who won a Nobel Prize for creation and development of heterostructures. Initially optoelectronic devices were built on the basis of heterostructures, then – devices of another electronics, including those of SHF ones.
What is nanoelectronics about?
Anyway, a huge sphere of modern knowledge can be attributed to nanoelectronics. But a key word here is “electronics”. There are two types of electronics known in the world – vacuum and solid state ones. Nanoelectronics is a branch of solid state electronics, while new objects are developed in this field. And these objects have properties that change at meeting two conditions – when reducing physical size of an element, some of its physical properties should change, and if a new device or element is built using these properties, it correspondently becomes a device of nanoelectronics. A typical example is a widely known transistor, which is an object of electronics, and a transistor which has become renowned today – a nanoheterostructure one with high electrons mobility and it in its turn presents an object of nanoelectronics. The difference is that in the first case a current flows in semiconductor, usually made of silicium, and in the second case current flows in one of the heterostructure layers, and a quantum-sized object – two-dimensional electron gas is current carrier.
How leadership in the field of global nanoelectronics can be achieved?
Electronics in Russia today trails the world one by 20 years, in every niche – to various extend. It is officially considered that the underrun started in 80th of the 20th century. If we take the period before 80th it is accepted to say that Russia had parity with the USA in several microelectronics branches, particularly in gallium arsenide sphere. That is why it is very difficult to be competitive with somebody in the field of micro — and nanoelectronics, but it’s possible. Micran company objective is to achieve a world level, overcome sufficient underrun and push the boundaries in several niches with exact technologies. Today we have achievements, which are close to world ones in several niches.
Our goal is leadership in Russia and presence on the world market. To tackle this task we assist in increasing the level of university education for specialists in the field of SHF solid state electronics, participate in educational programs in order to have university graduates capable of meeting modern requirements and challenges.
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